A MILITIAMAN
After the reverses to our arms at the disastrous battles of the Second Bull Run and Centreville, in the latter part of August, 1862, and the retrograde movements of the Union forces in Virginia in consequence, the purpose of the enemy to follow up his advantage by endeavoring to take the Capital, invade the Middle States, and thus strike terror into the hearts of the people of the North, became immediately apparent. In the early part of September, war meetings were being held in Pennsylvania to raise the quota of the State in lieu of the draft then impending, in pursuance of the requisition of the President of the United States for three hundred thousand men. The Reserves had been called away to succor the hard-pressed army of McClellan, and the borders were left wholly unprotected at the inviting season of harvest. As a measure of precaution against the impending danger, Governor Curtin on the 4th of September issued a proclamation recommending the immediate formation of volunteer companies throughout the State, in conformity with existing militia laws, for home defence, and suggesting the closing of all places of business at 3 o'clock P.M. daily, in order to afford due opportunity for drill and preparation. On the next day, Mayor David McKnight of Reading, who was acting in that capacity in the place of Mayor Joel B. Wanner, then in the field as Major of the 128th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, also issued a manifesto, in pursuance of the spirit of the Governor's proclamation, requiring the assemblage of the citizens at certain places designated within their respective wards, for the organization of companies, and also the holding of daily drills from 4 to 6 P.M.
On the 5th, the rebel army under General Lee, comprising a force estimated at eighty thousand infantry, eight thousand cavalry, and one hundred and fifty pieces of artillery, crossed the Potomac at or near the Point of Rocks, and entered Frederick. Among its division commanders were Magruder, Walker, Anderson, A.P. Hill, Stuart, Longstreet, Ewell, and Stonewall Jackson. With the occupation of Maryland, matters reached an alarming crisis, and the imminent danger to Pennsylvania became at once evident. The boldness and celerity of the enemy's movements suggested the necessity for prompt action on the part of the State authorities. On the 10th of September, the Governor, acting under the direction of the President of the United States, issued another proclamation, as Commander-in-Chief of the militia, designated as General Order No. 35, calling on all the able-bodied men of the State to organize for its defence, and be ready to march to Harrisburg at an hour's notice, subject to his order. The companies were directed to be filled in accordance with the army standards of the United States, and as it was stated that the call might be sudden, the officers and men were required to provide themselves with the best arms they could procure, with at least sixty rounds of suitable ammunition, good stout clothing, uniform or otherwise; boots, blankets, and haversacks. The order further stipulated that the organizations would be held in service for such time only as the pressing emergency for the State defence might continue.
On the morning of the 11th, the rebel cavalry under Stuart entered Hagerstown, the southern terminus of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, six miles from the Pennsylvania line, the main body being about two-and-a-half miles behind, at Funkstown. The army of McClellan had in the meantime advanced to Poolesville. As soon as this intelligence reached Harrisburg, the Governor at 4 o'clock on the afternoon of that day issued General Order No. 36, calling into immediate service fifty thousand of the freemen of Pennsylvania, under the terms of the proclamation of the previous day, to repel the rebel invasion.
Immediately after the publication of the proclamation of Wednesday, September 10th, the work of forming militia companies in Reading was begun in earnest, the efforts that had been previously made in that direction not having been attended with much practical result. In the evening, the court-house bell was rung, and the building was rapidly filled. Mayor McKnight presided over the meeting. Dispatches were read indicating the approach of the enemy to the borders, and resolutions were adopted to organize companies forthwith in each of the wards. Many went directly from the meeting to the different places of rendezvous, and enrolled themselves for the State defence. There was not at the time a single full military company in Reading, all the troops enlisted for stated terms of service having already gone to the front. The night was one of much activity and excitement. Drilling was done in Penn Square to the inspiring accompaniment of fife and drum, which gave the town a decidedly warlike appearance. This exercise was continued daily and nightly until the militia had marched, and at no period during the entire war did the military enthusiasm of the people reach a greater height.
In the instruction of the troops, the manual of arms had to be omitted, for there were no guns. Officers had been hastily selected, and the commands in most cases given to experienced soldiers, whose services were in sudden and great demand. The fidelity of the men was accepted without any suggestion of the test of an oath. The companies recruited rapidly, and were not long in filling up to the standard. Their evolutions, which were conducted to a large extent in the open square, under the cover of darkness, were at times edifying to witness. As the battalions marched with sturdy tread up and down on either side of the central market-houses, collisions would now and then derange the symmetry of the forces. Frequent resort to unmilitary language on the part of the commanders was necessary to bring up the laggard platoons, and movements were habitually executed for which no precedent could have been found in either Scott or Hardee. But it was patriotism and not tactics that was uppermost in the minds of all, and trifling imperfections of military discipline were, for the moment at least, sunk out of sight in the sense of common danger.
Arms of all kinds were in urgent demand. Rifles and shot-guns, single and double-barreled, old and new; pistols of all designs, long and short, ancient and modern, together with some other unclassified implements of war, were brought out from their hiding-places, hastily cleaned and put in working order. Some of the men, when equipped for the march, were walking armories of miscellaneous weapons. The hardware stores were invaded in search of powder, shot, and ball. A gum blanket, with which in most cases an army blanket, or in default thereof, a pair of ordinary bed blankets, were rolled up; a haversack of canvas or oil-cloth, hastily put together at the saddler's, a tin cup, knife and fork and spoon, made up the rest of the equipment.
But it was the composition of the forces which lent to them their chief dignity and formed their most notable feature. There was no volunteering by proxy. No one at all able to contemplate military service thought of stopping to suggest the duty of his neighbor. Each felt the personal application of the call, and even to doubt one's fitness for duty was to expose himself to suspicion. All claims of business, public or private responsibilities, or professional or official duty had to yield to the necessities of the hour. Every interest was alike threatened, and no balancing of individual excuses could for a moment be tolerated. The women nobly seconded the appeal to arms, and assisted in the work of preparation. Personal and social distinctions were levelled, and in response to roll-call there appeared the lawyer, the physician, the preacher, the magistrate, the banker, the merchant, the manufacturer, and the railway official in his multifarious forms, side by side with the humbler civilian--all animated with patriotic zeal in the common cause.
Mayor McKnight, who subsequently himself joined a company named in his honor and commanded by Captain Nathan M. Eisenhower, on the 11th sent William M. Baird, Esq., to Harrisburg to keep the home authorities informed as to the arrangements for the calling out and reception of the Reading militia. On the evening of the 12th, Mr. Baird telegraphed that the companies should hold themselves in readiness to march, and a little later communicated an order from headquarters to Captain Franklin S. Bickley, who was in charge of the first company organized, and the only one then ready, for his command to leave for Harrisburg the next morning by the first train.
This company had its rendezvous in the second story of the building at the southwest corner of Fifth and Washington streets. Its roll originally contained 94 names, but the number of men who actually marched was but 64. Sergeant William H. Strickland was left behind to recruit the company up to the standard, and afterwards brought a few additional men to Chambersburg. The commanding officers were all of them men of some experience in military affairs, and proved themselves worthy of their positions. Captain Bickley had been a commissioned officer in the Pennsylvania Reserves; First Lieutenant Lewis H. Wunder was a veteran of the Mexican War; and Second Lieutenant Charles H. Richards, though never in actual service, had had a long connection with the militia before the war. In the ranks of the company were a few old soldiers, who were generally to be recognized by the coolness of their bearing.
At this point it will be appropriate to give the names of the seven companies which were raised in Reading, or its immediate vicinity, and left in response to the Governor's call, with the dates of marching and their regimental assignments. Several other companies were in course of organization in the city and county, but the emergency had passed before they were ready to respond to the call:--
Fifth Ward Guards, Captain F.S. Bickley, 70 men, Company G, 2d Regiment; September 13.
Nicolls Guards, Captain Charles H. Hunter, 104 men, Company E, 11th Regiment; September 15.
McKnight Guards, Captain Nathan M. Eisenhower, 95 men, Company I, 11th Regiment; September 15.
Liberty Fire Zouaves, Captain William Geiger, 70 men, Company G, 20th Regiment; September 17.
M'Lean Guards, Captain Samuel Harner, 45 men, Company H, 20th Regiment; September 17.
Halleck Infantry, Captain Frederick S. Boas, 92 men, Company I, 20th Regiment; September 17.
Berks County Cavalry, Captain Samuel L. Young, 67 men, Independent; September 17.
At a meeting of Captain Bickley's Company, held on the evening of the 12th, the marching order was read, and it was directed that the company meet at the armory at 10 o'clock the next morning in readiness to leave. Its subsequent movements during the campaign are detailed in the journal which follows, and to which what has already preceded is but a necessary preliminary.
On the 5th, the rebel army under General Lee, comprising a force estimated at eighty thousand infantry, eight thousand cavalry, and one hundred and fifty pieces of artillery, crossed the Potomac at or near the Point of Rocks, and entered Frederick. Among its division commanders were Magruder, Walker, Anderson, A.P. Hill, Stuart, Longstreet, Ewell, and Stonewall Jackson. With the occupation of Maryland, matters reached an alarming crisis, and the imminent danger to Pennsylvania became at once evident. The boldness and celerity of the enemy's movements suggested the necessity for prompt action on the part of the State authorities. On the 10th of September, the Governor, acting under the direction of the President of the United States, issued another proclamation, as Commander-in-Chief of the militia, designated as General Order No. 35, calling on all the able-bodied men of the State to organize for its defence, and be ready to march to Harrisburg at an hour's notice, subject to his order. The companies were directed to be filled in accordance with the army standards of the United States, and as it was stated that the call might be sudden, the officers and men were required to provide themselves with the best arms they could procure, with at least sixty rounds of suitable ammunition, good stout clothing, uniform or otherwise; boots, blankets, and haversacks. The order further stipulated that the organizations would be held in service for such time only as the pressing emergency for the State defence might continue.
On the morning of the 11th, the rebel cavalry under Stuart entered Hagerstown, the southern terminus of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, six miles from the Pennsylvania line, the main body being about two-and-a-half miles behind, at Funkstown. The army of McClellan had in the meantime advanced to Poolesville. As soon as this intelligence reached Harrisburg, the Governor at 4 o'clock on the afternoon of that day issued General Order No. 36, calling into immediate service fifty thousand of the freemen of Pennsylvania, under the terms of the proclamation of the previous day, to repel the rebel invasion.
Immediately after the publication of the proclamation of Wednesday, September 10th, the work of forming militia companies in Reading was begun in earnest, the efforts that had been previously made in that direction not having been attended with much practical result. In the evening, the court-house bell was rung, and the building was rapidly filled. Mayor McKnight presided over the meeting. Dispatches were read indicating the approach of the enemy to the borders, and resolutions were adopted to organize companies forthwith in each of the wards. Many went directly from the meeting to the different places of rendezvous, and enrolled themselves for the State defence. There was not at the time a single full military company in Reading, all the troops enlisted for stated terms of service having already gone to the front. The night was one of much activity and excitement. Drilling was done in Penn Square to the inspiring accompaniment of fife and drum, which gave the town a decidedly warlike appearance. This exercise was continued daily and nightly until the militia had marched, and at no period during the entire war did the military enthusiasm of the people reach a greater height.
In the instruction of the troops, the manual of arms had to be omitted, for there were no guns. Officers had been hastily selected, and the commands in most cases given to experienced soldiers, whose services were in sudden and great demand. The fidelity of the men was accepted without any suggestion of the test of an oath. The companies recruited rapidly, and were not long in filling up to the standard. Their evolutions, which were conducted to a large extent in the open square, under the cover of darkness, were at times edifying to witness. As the battalions marched with sturdy tread up and down on either side of the central market-houses, collisions would now and then derange the symmetry of the forces. Frequent resort to unmilitary language on the part of the commanders was necessary to bring up the laggard platoons, and movements were habitually executed for which no precedent could have been found in either Scott or Hardee. But it was patriotism and not tactics that was uppermost in the minds of all, and trifling imperfections of military discipline were, for the moment at least, sunk out of sight in the sense of common danger.
Arms of all kinds were in urgent demand. Rifles and shot-guns, single and double-barreled, old and new; pistols of all designs, long and short, ancient and modern, together with some other unclassified implements of war, were brought out from their hiding-places, hastily cleaned and put in working order. Some of the men, when equipped for the march, were walking armories of miscellaneous weapons. The hardware stores were invaded in search of powder, shot, and ball. A gum blanket, with which in most cases an army blanket, or in default thereof, a pair of ordinary bed blankets, were rolled up; a haversack of canvas or oil-cloth, hastily put together at the saddler's, a tin cup, knife and fork and spoon, made up the rest of the equipment.
But it was the composition of the forces which lent to them their chief dignity and formed their most notable feature. There was no volunteering by proxy. No one at all able to contemplate military service thought of stopping to suggest the duty of his neighbor. Each felt the personal application of the call, and even to doubt one's fitness for duty was to expose himself to suspicion. All claims of business, public or private responsibilities, or professional or official duty had to yield to the necessities of the hour. Every interest was alike threatened, and no balancing of individual excuses could for a moment be tolerated. The women nobly seconded the appeal to arms, and assisted in the work of preparation. Personal and social distinctions were levelled, and in response to roll-call there appeared the lawyer, the physician, the preacher, the magistrate, the banker, the merchant, the manufacturer, and the railway official in his multifarious forms, side by side with the humbler civilian--all animated with patriotic zeal in the common cause.
Mayor McKnight, who subsequently himself joined a company named in his honor and commanded by Captain Nathan M. Eisenhower, on the 11th sent William M. Baird, Esq., to Harrisburg to keep the home authorities informed as to the arrangements for the calling out and reception of the Reading militia. On the evening of the 12th, Mr. Baird telegraphed that the companies should hold themselves in readiness to march, and a little later communicated an order from headquarters to Captain Franklin S. Bickley, who was in charge of the first company organized, and the only one then ready, for his command to leave for Harrisburg the next morning by the first train.
This company had its rendezvous in the second story of the building at the southwest corner of Fifth and Washington streets. Its roll originally contained 94 names, but the number of men who actually marched was but 64. Sergeant William H. Strickland was left behind to recruit the company up to the standard, and afterwards brought a few additional men to Chambersburg. The commanding officers were all of them men of some experience in military affairs, and proved themselves worthy of their positions. Captain Bickley had been a commissioned officer in the Pennsylvania Reserves; First Lieutenant Lewis H. Wunder was a veteran of the Mexican War; and Second Lieutenant Charles H. Richards, though never in actual service, had had a long connection with the militia before the war. In the ranks of the company were a few old soldiers, who were generally to be recognized by the coolness of their bearing.
At this point it will be appropriate to give the names of the seven companies which were raised in Reading, or its immediate vicinity, and left in response to the Governor's call, with the dates of marching and their regimental assignments. Several other companies were in course of organization in the city and county, but the emergency had passed before they were ready to respond to the call:--
Fifth Ward Guards, Captain F.S. Bickley, 70 men, Company G, 2d Regiment; September 13.
Nicolls Guards, Captain Charles H. Hunter, 104 men, Company E, 11th Regiment; September 15.
McKnight Guards, Captain Nathan M. Eisenhower, 95 men, Company I, 11th Regiment; September 15.
Liberty Fire Zouaves, Captain William Geiger, 70 men, Company G, 20th Regiment; September 17.
M'Lean Guards, Captain Samuel Harner, 45 men, Company H, 20th Regiment; September 17.
Halleck Infantry, Captain Frederick S. Boas, 92 men, Company I, 20th Regiment; September 17.
Berks County Cavalry, Captain Samuel L. Young, 67 men, Independent; September 17.
At a meeting of Captain Bickley's Company, held on the evening of the 12th, the marching order was read, and it was directed that the company meet at the armory at 10 o'clock the next morning in readiness to leave. Its subsequent movements during the campaign are detailed in the journal which follows, and to which what has already preceded is but a necessary preliminary.
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